How Awesome Is Your About Page? (Part IV)

By now, with part I, II and III of this topic, we are savvy about ‘about’ pages. Thankfully, this is the last of the series.

Our concern today, are the methods of presentation.

Without much ado, here they are:

Text. This is by far the most common way to present an ‘about’ page. It is the easiest and most familiar. At least, a good seven out of ten people prefer to introduce and express their image in this form. That’s because it is the least risky of all the others. I mean, what could possibly go wrong with the written language (outside grammatical errors ;))? That’s not to say it is not an art in itself. In fact, I’ve come across a good number of pages where even with text, it is not done right. When managed well, it does draw a reader to a blog and even the blogger. It is usually accompanied by a picture.

Video. This is not very common, but it is second in familiarity to text among web users. The idea is usually perceived as fun and rich, however it takes a good dose of confidence for certain people to get behind a camera and introduce themselves and what they do. They may have the words, but how to express themselves in front of the camera is the problem. If you like the idea and would like to try it, but have a phobia for cameras, simply take a deep breath and tell yourself that it’s not as hard as it looks. Make yourself the only audience to your session, look directly into the camera (it’s easiest when it is a built-in webcam), and just let yourself go. Babble on until you get it right. Hit delete as often times as is necessary. Eventually it will become easy and you might even have fun with it. Write a script if you like, but please make sure it doesn’t sound like it’s a recitation. Put some life into it so viewers know you’re original. When you finally get it right and you can watch your video, smile from ear to ear (because you’re proud of your accomplishment) and wink at yourself in the video, then you’re good to go. When done right, this is actually more fun than the text. It gives your audience a better feel of the person behind the blog. They can put a voice and a tone to the picture and the words they see every day. Also, the video doesn’t have to have your face all or some of the way. It could be a short clip featuring the message of your blog.

Pictures/Inforgraphics. This method could be really sweet, fun and alluring. Pictures from various sources could be put together to pass across the message of the blog and express the bloggers image/feelings. Or better still, you could use the more recent method, inforgraphics. Making a colorful and rich ‘about’ page definitely adds more taste and flavor to the blogosphere. If you are an artist, photographer or one who shares a love of these, you could put your talent to work here and give your ‘about’ page a unique, colorful and perky look.

The Hybrid. This method combines, two or all of the methods. You could decide it should be text/video, with the text carrying a short bio of you, the blogger, and the video, your message. You could go for Pictures & Inforgraphics/text, with the text carrying your bio, and pictures or inforgraphics, your message. You could also go for pictures & Inforgraphics/video. You could use the video to introduce yourself and tell a bit more about the person behind the blog, and the inforgraphics could carry your message. And the last but certainly not the least—it actually is the best if you can manage it right—is to use all three. Text is used to introduce you and your message. And then you could use the video/pictures/inforgraphics to emphasize your message in a visual and graphical manner so your audience better understand you and your work on the blog. You could use pictures to create an album of your lifestyle so your audience can experience you on a whole new level. There could see you while you’re at your hobbies, leisures, or how you work. This is great for a photography blog. But anyone could use it. It is really fun if you’d like to try it. If you fill it’s a bit much to embed in one page, provide a link to your pictures/video. You could provide links to YouTube, vmeo, instagram or anything else you think is a great idea.

You might be wondering, why then does Miranda not try any of these awesome methods? Well, for one, I’m a word person. I’m a writer. Words are my tools. For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated with grammar and all that comes with it, for as long as I can remember. I may in the future change my mind as I also have a healthy love, interest and respect for photography and illustrations. But for now, I’m content with my page just the way it is.

I hope you find these helpful. Find out what you like and makes you content and go with it. Don’t insist on fitting in so you can be like everyone else in the blogosphere. Remember, fitting in is overrated. Standing out is more original and actually appreciated. If anything, it could make you outstanding. If being original lets you fit in, good! Just be happy with what you’ve put together.

And always remember, have fun with/at your little corner of the web! J